Apple unveils big screen iPhone 6, supersize iPhone 6 Plus, Watch

Apple has confirmed the tech industry's worst-kept secret: its new iPhones will have larger displays.

At an event in San Francisco, the company has unveiled two new models.

The iPhone 6 will have a 4.7-inch display (the current iPhone 5s and 5c have a 4-inch display).

And the new iPhone 6 Plus will have a 5.5-inch display.

The event is also being used to preview Apple Pay, a mobile payment platform and iOS 8 and the new Apple Watch.

Displays curved at edges
Both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus feature curved glass “Retina HD” displays. The slight curve at the edges of the screen and a more curved case make it easier to swipe from the sides of the display.

iPhone 6';s 4.7-inch display has 1334×750 resolution, density of 326 pixels-per-inch. More than one million pixels are spaced across the display, which is 38% more pixels than the iPhone 5s display.

The iPhone 6 Plus' 5.5-inch display has 1920×1080 (or full HDP) resolution and density of 401 pixels-per inch. That’s more than two million pixels in total and 185% more pixels than iPhone 5s.

The iPhone 6 is 6.9 mm thin, and the iPhone 6 Plus is 7.1 mm. The iPhone 5S is 7.6 mm.

The colours for the new models are the same as the 5s/5c: gold, silver and grey.

Most other specs, including onboard memory and digital camera megapixel specs, remain the same as the current iPhone 5s and 5c. Apple says the camera has new "iSight" technology that improves autofocus. The processor is pepped up to the new  64 bit A8 chip (not that the iPhone 5c or 5s had any lack of grunt) and the new M8 co-processor that can calculate elevation, number of steps climbed etc and also function as a barometer. There's also  802.11ac wi-fi (up to three times faster than the wi-fi spec on the current model, your internet connection allowing) and Bluetooth 4.0, aka Bluetooth Low Energy — the same wireless spec used by Apple's iBeacon technology; those little sensors that retailers and others can use to sense your proximity then zing you a special deal.

But mainly the iPhone 6 is all about supersizing the display.

The 5s and 5c will remain in Apple's lineup.

Apple Australia NZ says the free iOS 8 will be available from September 17 but did not immediately have local release or pricing details for the new iPhones. A spokeswoman said no further details were available at this time [UPDATE: pricing is now on Apple's NZ website: from $999 for the iPhone 6, and from $1149 for the 6 Plus. A date is also listed for pre-orders opening: September 26].

The Apple Watch won't be released anywhere until early next year (Apple's NZ website does have a preview page live).

Thumb kind of wonderful?
Apple has previously maintained that a 4-inch display was ideal as the maximum that was "thumbable" to all areas of the screen while holding the phone in one hand. 

Now that logic has gone out the window in a bid to keep up with the Jonses — or at least big screen Androids like Samsung's Galaxy S series, Sony's Z series and HTC's One series, all of which have long-time boasted displays in the 5-inch to 5.1-inch range.

iOS 8
The new, free upgrade to iOS (the software that runs iPhone an iPad) features include a new health app, burst-mode selfies, and "Tap to Talk" voice messaging and Family Sharing — which automatically creates shared family photo stream and calendar, and provides an option to locate family members and their devices. Family members can also now browse and download each other’s eligible iTunes, iBooks or App Store purchases, Apple says.

Up to six family members can participate, each with their own Apple ID. Parents can create Apple IDs for children and, with Ask to Buy, require online parental permission for Family Sharing purchases.

iOS 8 also features better predictative text, Apple says, and iCloud Drive, which automatically syncs an edit to a document, or photo, across all your devices.

Support has also been added fro wi-fi calling, or offloading and incoming or outgoing cellular network call to a wi-fi network. Or starting a call on a wi-fi network but as you leave your home or office handing it off to a cellular network. It seems potentially very cool, but so far there is only one carrier lined up to support it (T-Mobile in the US). It'll be intriguiing to see if Spark's able to support it here for its phonebox wi-fi network.

Apple Pay mobile payments
The company has also previewed a new mobile payment platform called Apple Pay.

It works with NFC (near-field communications) chips built into the new iPhones. NFC, commonly used by Android phones to support mobile payment technology, has been conspicuously absent from the past couple of iPhone models.

The long-awaited addition of NFC technology had Darrin Grafton, CEO of NZX-listed Serko quickly crowing to NBR's technology editor on Twitter, "Wow, what a time to HAVE the USA NFC expense patent!" Predicted this in 2009. Now apple iphone has NFC. Game On!" (See more on Serko's patent win here).

Apple says you can use a credit card already registered with iTunes for the service, which is supported by American Express, MasterCard and Visa.

It will support Apple's Touch ID fingerprint technology (introduced with the iPhone 5s for unlocking the handset with a finger touch rather than a PIN).

Apple says it has support from retailers including Subway, Uber, McDonalds and Starbucks. All up 220,000 retail outlets will support Apple Pay by the time of the US launch, which is schedjuled for October.

Banks representing 83% of purchasing volume are also onboard.

A number of New Zealand retailers have Eftpos terminals that support NFC technology, which is used by Visa's Paywave and MasterCard's PayPass. A rep for Visa told NBR the number is now around 20%. However, there were no immediate details about local Apple Pay support. [UPDATE: Visa head of emerging products and innovation George Lawson told NBR his company first had to launch its Token Service — a technology that replaces sensitive payment account information found on plastic cards with a digital ‘token’, making the online or mobile payment secure — in NZ. That would likely happen some time in 2015. Once the Token Service is in place, Apple will be able to push forward with a local launch. Apple had no comment on timing. MasterCard released an upbeate statement of support for Apple Pay, but could not immediately comment on the timing of moves to support the technology.]

Apple Watch
After aping Steve Jobs "And one more thing line", Apple CEO Tim Cook also used today's event to preview the Apple Watch.

The wearable features a flexible Retina display, and new "Digital Crown" technology that Apple says solves the problem of how to magnify content on a small screen. Finger swipes can also be used to control the watch. "Taptic" feedback (vibration or little "taps") will be used to help relay alerts, and also integrate with apps like Apple Maps. Siri voice recognition and voice commands are also supported.

The Apple Watch will come in two screen sizes, with 38mm and 42mm cases.

One of the huge drawbacks for smartwatches released so far has been short battery life, and people's distaste for being saddled with yet another device they have to charge every single day. Apple attempts to address this bugbear with a wireless charger.

NBR has been peeved by energy-saving techniques employed by other smartwatches, such as constantly putting the display into sleep mode. It remains to be seen how successfully Apple has dealt with that issue.

A second problem with smartwatches has been the need to pair them a smartphone (for most models). Apple does not get around this. The Watch will have to be wirelessly synced with an iPhone.

A third is that many men and women consider their watch jewellery They don't necessarily want to trade their classic Rolex for a piece of geekery. Apple has approached this one by offering a blizzard of options. The Watch comes in a stainless steel, aluminium or 18-carat gold body, and has stainless steel, leather and plastic strap options in a range of colours. The interface is also customisable.

Like other smartwatches, the Apple Watch features a heart-rate sensor and fitness and personal training apps. 

Apple Watch will start from $US349 and be available from early next year.

Shares [NAS:AAPL] closed down 0.38% to $US97.99 0.37, pacing a broader market fall. Much of the iPhone 6/6 Plus details had already been leaked, and the smart watch and mobile payment announcements had been widely expected.

The stock spiked as Apple Pay was announced, but fell back as the Apple Watch was detailed.

Apple also said today that U2's new album, Songs of Innocence, would be free to all iTunes users for the next five weeks. The company is billing it as the largest ever album release, given iTunes has around half a billion users. One Twitter wag dubbed it a "pro-bono" promotion.

ckeall@nbr.co.nz

Follow @ChrisKeall

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